The Alpha's Regret: He Lost His Fated White Wolf

I was drowning in the pool, chlorine burning my lungs, but my fated mate, Jax, swam right past me.

He scooped up Catalina, the swim team captain who was faking a cramp, and carried her to safety like she was made of glass.

When I dragged myself out, shivering and humiliated, Jax didn't offer a hand. Instead, he glared at me with cold hazel eyes.

"Stop acting like a victim, Eliana," he spat in front of the whole pack. "You're just jealous."

He was the Alpha Heir, and I was the unshifted failure. He broke our bond piece by piece, culminating at the sacred Moon Tree where he slashed through our carved initials to replace them with hers.

But the final blow wasn't emotional; it was lethal.

Catalina threw my car keys into a pond laced with Wolfsbane. As the poison paralyzed my limbs and I sank into the dark water, unable to breathe, I saw Jax standing on the bank.

"Stop playing games!" he shouted at the ripples.

He turned his back and walked away, leaving me to die.

I survived, but the girl who loved him didn't. I finally accepted the rejection he never had the guts to speak.

Jax thought I would crawl back in a week. He thought I was nothing without the pack's protection.

He was wrong.

I moved to New York and walked into a dance studio, right into the arms of a True Alpha named Daryl.

And when I finally shifted, I wasn't a weak Omega.

I was a White Wolf.

By the time Jax realized what he had thrown away, I was already a Queen.

Chapter 1

Eliana POV:

The water of the pool was cold, but the reality hitting my chest was colder.

I thrashed, my limbs heavy, panic seizing my throat as chlorine burned my nose. I wasn't a strong swimmer. Everyone in the North Gate Pack knew that. I was the unshifted girl, the eighteen-year-old failure who still hadn't met her wolf. To them, I was barely better than a human.

"Help!" I choked out, swallowing a mouthful of chemically treated water.

Through the splashing chaos of the Summer Solstice party, I saw him. Jax.

He was standing by the edge, his dark hair gleaming under the string lights. He was the Alpha Heir, the strongest of our generation, and the boy who held my heart in his hands. He was my mate. We hadn't completed the marking ceremony, but our souls knew. My inner wolf, though dormant, always hummed when he was near.

But he wasn't looking at me.

"Jax!" Catalina screamed from the other side of the pool.

She was flailing, her perfectly manicured hands slapping the water. Catalina was a transfer student, a Beta female who had arrived two months ago. She was beautiful, curvaceous, and smelled like expensive vanilla and trouble. She was also the captain of the swim team.

She didn't need saving. I did.

Jax didn't hesitate. He didn't even glance in my direction. With a growl that vibrated through the deck, he dove in. But he swam away from me.

He swam to her.

The pain wasn't just heartbreak; it was a physical severance, a jagged tear in the bond connecting us. I watched as he scooped Catalina up in his powerful arms, carrying her to the poolside as if she were made of porcelain.

I managed to grab the ladder, hauling my coughing, shivering body out of the water. No one offered me a hand. The music had stopped. The entire pack was watching.

Jax set Catalina down. She clung to his wet t-shirt, shivering dramatically, looking up at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jax asked, his voice tender.

"I... I got a cramp," she whimpered.

I stood there, water dripping from my cheap sundress, shivering violently. "Jax," I whispered. "I was drowning."

He turned to me then. His eyes, usually a warm hazel, were hard and cold. There was no concern in them. Only annoyance.

"Stop it, Eliana," he snapped.

I blinked, stunned. "What?"

"Stop acting like a victim," he said, his voice rising so everyone could hear. "Catalina was in trouble. You're just jealous because I paid attention to her."

"I can't swim, Jax! You know that!"

He took a step toward me, his Alpha aura flaring. It was a heavy, suffocating pressure that forced the air out of my lungs.

"Enough."

The word wasn't spoken; it was slammed directly into my skull.

*Stop using these pathetic stunts to get attention,* he projected through the mind-link, his voice booming in my head like thunder. *You are embarrassing me.*

The command slammed into my brain. My knees buckled. As an unshifted wolf-an Omega by status until I proved otherwise-I had no defense against an Alpha's command.

I fell to the concrete, scraping my knees.

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

This was it. The ninety-ninth time he had put me second. The ninety-ninth time he had looked at me with disappointment instead of love.

Inside me, something broke.

My inner wolf let out a single, high-pitched keening sound. And then, silence.

Dead silent.

I looked up at him. Jax was wrapping a towel around Catalina's shoulders. He didn't look back.

I stood up. My legs were shaking, but not from the cold anymore.

"Okay," I said softly.

He didn't hear me. He was too busy whispering comfort to the girl who had faked drowning.

I turned around and walked away. I walked past the judging eyes of the pack members, past the snickering teenagers, past the life I thought I was destined for.

I didn't stop until I reached my parents' house on the edge of the territory.

My room was dark. I didn't turn on the lights. I sat at my desk, water pooling on the floor, and opened my laptop.

The screen glowed, illuminating the acceptance letter I had been ignoring for weeks.

New York University.

It was in the city. Human territory. Neutral ground. Far away from the North Gate Pack. Far away from the forests where I was supposed to run with Jax.

I had applied to UCLA because that's where Jax was going. I had planned my entire future around being his Luna.

I moved the cursor.

Accept Offer.

I clicked it.

Then I stood up and looked around my room. It was filled with him. The dried flowers from prom, the oversized hoodies he let me steal, the teddy bear he won for me at the county fair three years ago.

I picked up the bear. It used to smell like him-like pine and rain. Now, it just smelled like dust and lies.

I grabbed a trash bag.

I didn't cry. I think I had run out of tears in the pool. I just started throwing things away. Every memory, every gift, every trace of Jax Little.

I was done waiting.

*

Eliana POV:

The next morning, the sun felt intrusive. It glared through my window, demanding I wake up and face a reality I didn't want.

My room was bare. The walls, once covered in photos of us, were now blank. Four garbage bags sat by the door.

I had one last thing to do.

I drove to the Alpha's house. It was a massive estate in the center of the pack lands, screaming wealth and power. My hands gripped the steering wheel of my old sedan until my knuckles turned white.

I had a small box in the passenger seat. Inside was the silver promise ring he gave me when we were sixteen. It wasn't a mating mark, but in our world, it meant *intent*.

I parked and walked up the steps. Luna Maria, Jax's mother, opened the door.

"Ellie, dear!" She smiled warmly, pulling me into a hug. She didn't know. "Jax is upstairs. Go on up."

"Thank you, Luna Maria," I said, my voice hollow.

I walked up the grand staircase. The hallway usually smelled like lemon polish and old wood. Today, it smelled like something else.

Nauseatingly sweet. Artificial vanilla.

*Catalina.*

My stomach churned. The scent was coming from Jax's bedroom.

The door was ajar. I pushed it open.

Jax was sitting on his bed, shirtless. Catalina was sitting on the floor between his legs, and he was braiding her wet hair.

The intimacy of it hit me harder than a punch. Braiding hair was something wolves did for their mates. It was a grooming ritual. A sign of care.

He had never braided my hair.

"Jax," I said.

His head snapped up. Catalina turned, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Eliana," Jax sighed, dropping a strand of Catalina's hair. "What are you doing here? Did you come to apologize for yesterday?"

Apologize?

I walked forward and placed the velvet box on his dresser. "I came to return this."

Jax stared at the box. He knew what was inside. His jaw tightened. "Stop being dramatic. You're overreacting."

"Am I?" I gestured to the room, thick with Catalina's scent. "Your room smells like her, Jax. You haven't even marked her, and you're letting her scent-mark your territory. It's disrespectful to the bond."

"The bond?" Catalina laughed. It was a tinkling, cruel sound. "What bond? You can't even shift, Ellie. You're practically a human pet. Jax needs a real wolf. A strong wolf."

"Catalina," Jax warned, but there was no heat in it.

"She's right," I said, looking Jax dead in the eye. "I might not have my wolf yet, but I know what a mate is supposed to be. And it's not you."

I turned to leave.

"Wait!" Jax stood up. "You don't get to walk away from me!"

I kept walking. I reached the top of the stairs.

"Hey!" Catalina rushed past me, cutting me off. "He's talking to you!"

"Get out of my way," I said quietly.

"Make me," she sneered. She stepped closer, invading my personal space. Then, she did something I didn't expect.

She didn't just stumble. She launched herself backward.

It was theatrical and ridiculous. She let out a scream and tumbled down the first three steps, landing on the landing with a thud.

"Ah! My ankle!" she wailed.

"Catalina!" Jax roared. He shoved past me, his shoulder checking me hard into the wall.

The impact was brutal. I stumbled, losing my footing on the slick hardwood. I didn't have wolf reflexes to catch myself.

I fell.

I tumbled down the entire flight of stairs, my body slamming against the sharp edges of the wood. I hit the bottom floor with a sickening crunch. My head cracked against the floorboards.

Pain exploded in my ribs and my skull. Warm blood trickled down my forehead, blinding my left eye.

"Ellie!" Luna Maria's voice came from the kitchen.

I groaned, trying to push myself up. My vision swam.

Jax was at the top of the stairs, kneeling beside Catalina. She was clutching her ankle, squeezing out fake tears.

"She pushed me, Jax!" Catalina sobbed. "She tried to kill me!"

Jax looked down at me. I was bleeding on his floor. I was broken at the bottom of his stairs.

His eyes were wild, fueled by adrenaline and Catalina's lies. "You are vicious," Jax spat at me, his voice dripping with disgust. "And weak. If you touch her again, Eliana, I will banish you myself. I don't care what our parents say."

He picked Catalina up-again-and carried her toward his room.

"Mom, get the pack doctor for Cat," he yelled over his shoulder. "Ellie can see herself out."

I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling. The chandelier above me was blurry.

Luna Maria was rushing toward me, horror on her face. "Oh, goddess, Ellie..."

"Don't," I whispered, pushing her hand away.

I dragged myself up. Every inch of my body screamed in protest. My healing was slow, human-speed. This would bruise. This would scar.

But the physical pain was a distraction. It was a relief, actually. It was easier to focus on a bleeding head than a bleeding soul.

I limped out the front door, leaving a trail of red droplets on the pristine porch.

I got into my car. I didn't go to the pack hospital. I went to the pharmacy, bought rubbing alcohol and bandages, and drove to a secluded overlook.

I cleaned the cut on my head myself, hissing as the alcohol burned.

*I reject this,* I thought, looking out over the town lights. I wasn't strong enough to say the ritual words yet-the bond was too old, too deep-but I could build a wall.

I closed my eyes and imagined a brick wall in my mind. Brick by brick, I sealed off the place where Jax lived in my head.

The connection dimmed. It didn't break, but it went quiet.

I was alone. And for the first time, I preferred it that way.

*

Eliana POV:

A week later, I stood in front of the mirror. The bruise on my temple had faded to a sickly yellow, easily hidden by makeup. The ribs were still tender, wrapped tight in bandages beneath my dress.

Tonight was the graduation party. The Pack's Coming of Age ceremony.

"You don't have to go, sweetie," my mom said, leaning against my doorframe. Her eyes were sad. She and Dad had been furious when I came home bloody. They were already talking about transferring to the East Coast branch of the family business.

"I have to go," I said, applying a coat of red lipstick. "If I don't, they win. They'll think I'm hiding."

I wasn't hiding. I was saying goodbye.

The party was at the pack house. Bonfires roared in the backyard, sending sparks up into the night sky. The air smelled of roasted meat, beer, and shifting hormones.

When I walked in, the conversation died. Whispers followed me like smoke.

*That's her.*

*The reject.*

*Did she really push Catalina?*

I kept my head high. I grabbed a soda and stood by a tree, watching the wolves dance.

Jax was there, of course. He was sitting on a makeshift throne of hay bales, holding a beer. Catalina was in his lap. She was wearing a dress that looked suspiciously like the one I had pointed out to Jax in a magazine months ago.

He saw me. His eyes narrowed. He whispered something to Catalina, and she laughed.

Then, the games began.

"Truth or Dare!" someone shouted.

It was a pack tradition. But with an Alpha Heir involved, it was never just a game. It was a power play.

Catalina spun the bottle. It landed on her.

"Dare," she purred.

"I dare you..." a Gamma female giggled, "to kiss the strongest male here."

It was scripted. It was so obviously staged that it was pathetic.

Catalina stood up and sashayed over to Jax. But before she kissed him, she turned to look at me.

"Do you mind, Ellie?" she asked, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "I mean, technically, you guys were... something. Once."

The circle went silent. Everyone waited for me to cry, to scream, to run.

I took a sip of my soda. "Why would I mind?" I said, my voice steady. "As an Omega, I have no right to interfere with an Alpha's choices. If he wants a Beta, that's his business."

The insult landed. Wolves cared about bloodlines. Calling his choice a downgrade was a slap in the face.

Jax stood up abruptly. The playful atmosphere vanished.

He released his pheromones.

It wasn't a command this time. It was pure, raw dominance. The scent of ozone and burnt wood flooded the clearing. It was an oppressive weight, designed to force submission.

Around me, wolves lowered their heads. Some of the younger ones dropped to their knees, baring their necks instinctively.

Jax glared at me, his eyes glowing amber. He wanted me to bow. He wanted me to break.

"You think you're clever," Jax growled, stepping over the people kneeling on the grass. "You think you're better than her?"

He grabbed Catalina by the waist and pulled her flush against him.

"She is strong," Jax announced to the pack. "She is a warrior. She is worthy of being a Luna." He looked at me with pure disdain. "You are nothing, Eliana. You are a broken vessel. You can't even shift."

He smashed his lips onto Catalina's.

It was aggressive, possessive, and performative.

The pack cheered, relieved that the Alpha's anger was directed at me and not them.

I felt the bond inside me scream. It was agonizing, like a hook being ripped out of my chest. But I didn't kneel.

I stood straight. My spine was steel.

The pheromones washed over me, trying to crush me, but I felt... detached. It was as if I was watching a movie of someone else's life.

Jax pulled away, breathless, expecting to see me on the ground, weeping.

Instead, I was checking my watch.

"Are you done?" I asked.

His amber eyes widened. The shock on his face was almost satisfying.

"Because I have packing to do," I continued. "Enjoy your Beta, Jax. I hope she's worth it."

I turned my back on the Alpha Heir. I walked away from the fire, into the dark.

My heart didn't hurt anymore. It was dead. And you can't kill something that's already dead.

*